The Lone Wanderer of Vault 101
by TheLoneWandereroftheWastes101
Summary: My name is Daenerys. I was born in a Vault with other descendents of survivors of a great war that took place over two hundred years ago. Ever since then no one has entered or left our Vault 101. We're born in the Vault. We die in the Vault.
1. Chapter 1

The Lone Wanderer  
1  
Vault 101

I was born in a Vault. No not like the ones that were in banks that held pre-war money, but might as well be. Both hold the same purpose. Keep whatever is locked up inside from getting out and keep what is outside out. In our case we are not entirely sure of what we are being kept locked up from. All we know it is a radioactive wasteland, full of raiders and mutants. Anything beyond that is a mystery. I never thought about leaving the Vault, not until that night my dad escaped. When that event occurred living in the Vault seemed impossible. It was determined that I leave after my father. Into the unknown, into what our overseer fears the most, the wasteland.

My dad didn't tell me much about my birth. Maybe it caused too much pain for both of us, him more than me. During my birth, my mom died from complications. But dad told me that before she died she did get to hear my name, Daenerys. Dad told me it was an old name. Found it in an old book somewhere in his dad's stuff.  
He did, however, tell me her favorite verse. He must have recited it to me over a thousand times. I don't remember a time when I hadn't heard it before.  
Revelations 21:6  
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

We have the verse in frame in our room. Sometimes I catch him gazing at it, as if it held the answers to all of his questions. Then something changes and the life returns to his eyes and returns to his duties as if he never looked at it. Sometimes I can hear him reciting it to himself under his breath when he is alone. Sometimes I hear him talking to mom.


	2. Chapter 4

4

Two Years Later.

I wake up to Amata shaking me. The Vault's alarm is buzzing out of control.  
"Wake up!" She screams.  
"What? What's going on?" I say rubbing my eyes. She pulls me up to stand.  
"Your Dad left the Vault!" She says. I pull my hands away from my face.  
"What?! That's impossible. No one can just leave." I say. She shakes her head and throws her hands up in the air.  
"Well someone can and someone did! We have to get you out of here! My father he lost it! He… I'm Danny, but he killed Jonas, I know he was your friend but if my father would kill Jonas who knows what he would do to you! He's gone crazy. Oh my god, Danny you have to get out!" she says. My heart starts beating faster. _My father is gone?_  
"What do you mean when you say my dad left? What happened?" I ask. Amata is taken aback when she hears my comment. Her eyebrows push together.  
"You mean… he didn't tell you? You didn't know he was going to leave?" She questions. I narrow my eyes. Dad and I never kept secrets from each other, or so I thought. Why didn't he tell me?  
"No. He didn't say a thing." I say angrily. Feeling hurt and betrayed, I place my hands on my hips.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Truly." She says. All I do is nod. I look at the frame that holds mom's favorite verse. I read through it before looking at Amata. Immediately I have my mind set.  
"How do I get out of here?" I ask. She takes a deep breath.  
"Well the guards aren't going to help that's for sure. There are tons of radraoches, as impossible as it main seem you might have to get in my father's office, or find another way to the entrance. As far as I know the main door to it is blocked by guards." She says. I can see in her eyes she trying to stir up a last minute plan, it's the leader in her and damn was she good at it. She continues mumbling out her plan to herself while I grab all I can. My BB gun, a baseball bat, and a utility jumpsuit.  
"You were always good with computers; you can to hack into overseer's terminal." She says. I nod.  
"Okay, well, I will meet you at the entrance if I can if I am not there, don't wait for me!" she says as she leaves the room running. I sigh. Why did you leave, I think.  
When I look over to his nightstand, I see that the picture that was taken on my tenth birthday was missing. I start gnawing on the inside of my cheek, nervously. I leave my room. Down the hall near where the Mack's live, a security guard points his gun at me.  
"Stop right there!" he yells. Before I could even throw my hands up, he is attacked by a swarm of radraoches. I run past him. When I am almost out of the living quarters, I feel someone grab me from behind. They pull me and slam me into the wall. I notice the gelled hair, the smell of leather and cigarettes, it was a tunnel snake. But not just a tunnel snake, the leader, Butch. I calm down. Butch doesn't scare me anymore, ever since I broke his nose when I was sixteen. Instead I usually smirk at him, which usually makes him keep his distance.  
But now I utterly confused on why he is all the sudden deciding to fight me now. Was it because no one would punish him? Or was it because no one would care that, the daughter of the man who put their lives in jeopardy, gets her ass kicked?  
Regardless of the reasons, I was ready to fight Butch, ready to take a few punches. When he opens his mouth I am so surprised at what he says my eyes widened.  
"You've got to help me! Please!" he wails. Butch's eyes are so wide and dilated, that I can't see his blue irises. I think he might be high. Got to give some credit for that, I mean, finding this is the perfect time to steal dad's drugs from his office is sort of clever. Sure it's simple but this is Butch we are talking about. I don't even laugh because how alarmed I was. He, Butch Deloria, wanted my help. Of all the people in this Vault, he chooses me. Oh, how ironic.  
"Oh, Butch, if you only knew what irony meant." I say chuckling. He sighs and rolls his eyes.  
"Yeah, I know, I'm an ass." He says. I nod with a big grin on my face. He sighs again and looks down.  
"It's my mom." He says. With this comment my grin fades. I have never seen Butch so serious and worried looking. He clenches his jaw.  
"What's wrong?" I ask. He looks at me, with hopeful eyes. I gasp; do I see a smile on Butch's face?  
"You'll help me?" He asks. While rolling my eyes I nod. He takes his hands off of me and I stand up straight. Now Butch's mom is a complete bitch. When I would complain about her to dad once he said that she just needed to be understood, she had been through a lot. It still doesn't give her a reason to be a nasty. She was the only person that I have ever called a cunt.  
Sometimes, because of her, I pitied Butch. He had to put up with her every day. That's why I think he is so mean. Why he is such a jerk to everyone, even his friends.  
"Radraoches. They swarmed our apartment and now she isn't responding when I try to get her to wake up." He says.  
"Are the radraoches gone?" I ask. He nods. Then he looks away from my eyes sheepishly hiding something. I roll my eyes.  
"Butch, look I know you are high, stop acting like you are sober. I am guessing you weren't there when this happened?" I ask. He nods again looking embarrassed.  
"Now with the Doc gone you are the only one who can save her." He says.  
"Take me too her." I order.  
"Yeah, yeah, sure come on!" he says, nodding franticly. We run towards his apartment and he shows me to Ms. Deloria's room. As I kneel be her, I could see many bites on exposed skin. I feel around her neck for a pulse. Her pulse is low. So low I needed stimpacks for her heart and body, fixer for her drunkenness, and med x for her wounds.  
"Get me any Stimpacks, Med-x and Fixer you have." I order. He nods attentively and leaves the room. I start CPR because without it, her heart will stop.  
"One, two, three, four, and five…" I whisper. I take in a deep breath and blow into her mouth.  
"One, two, and three…" I whisper. Butch runs in the room with a first aid kit. He kneels by my side holding his mother's hand. I always thought that Butch hated his mother, but seeing this side of him, really freaked me out. _Must be the drugs, what did he take?  
_I start opening syringes and bottles of medicine. If I do this right she will live, and I know I will do this right. Dad thought it was always important that I learned medical stuff. He just wanted to teach me the basics but I took a deep interest in it. Soon I was reading medicine journals of his and even assisted in some of his appointments with patience. But those days are gone; they're gone because he left me. When I was extracting Med-x from the bottle I glance at Butch.  
He and I are in a similar situation. My father is gone and I am going to find him because I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. He will do anything to save his mother even if meant asking an old enemy for help, because he couldn't bear the idea of losing his mother. Then I wonder, is she the real reason he is so mean to everyone else?  
"You know I am quite surprised that you care this much about your mom." I say as I inject Med-x into her arm.  
He clenches his jaw again revealing his bone and muscles in his face more. He nods.  
"She is all I have. Never had a dad, he could be anyone in the Vault. My ma says he died, but in all reality she drinks because he is with another woman." He reveals. I look at him, concerned. He looks back at me. I could tell his high was coming down which made his pain more visible. This scared me, seeing Butch like this.  
Dad never said anything about this before.  
"My dad never told me that." I say softly. His pain soon turned into anger.  
"Yeah, well it's really none of your concern anyways isn't it?" he snaps. I bite my lip and look back down at his mom. I take a few Stimpacks and inject them as well. Then, I take Fixer and syringe it in her other arm.  
Butch lifts his mother on to the nearby bed. I grab water and set it on the nightstand next to her.  
"When she wakes up make her drink it. In small sips though. She will most likely throw up but that's just the alcohol." I say. He nods not looking at me. As I am about to leave, Butch grabs my arm and I turn to look at him.  
"Thanks, I uh, appreciate it. A lot. And I uh want you to have this." He hesitates, and gives me his leather jacket. I am speechless. All it took for Butch to be nice to me was to save his mom? I would have done that earlier if I knew that. The jacket is black, has studs on the collar and a green snack on the back.  
Before leaving he gives me a kiss on the forehead as a friendly goodbye. By the time I leave his apartment my head starts to hurt. After putting on the jacket and rubbing my head for a moment I continue my escape from Vault 101.


	3. Chapter 5

5

Getting to through the Atrium was easy, there were a few guards but they were too occupied with the radraoches, I had to find another way into the reactor level because there was a section cut off in the Living Quarters. There was another way through the Atrium to get there. It was a risky thought but easier than I imagined. I get to the higher level in the Atrium and go through where the generators are.  
Blood is on the ground. So Jonas isn't the only man the overseer killed? I start shaking in fury. Before I didn't even have time to react to Jonas's death, but now it is like a switch was turned on. That stupid son of a fucking bitch! He'll fucking pay! I find a 10mm near the dead body of Floyd Lewis.  
I start light jogging through the halls to go find the door to the reactor. I was half hoping to find the Overseer to take out some unsheathed rage. Instead I find Amata she is in a room sitting in a chair. Officer Mack has a gun on her. The Overseer has his arms crossed and looks like he is questioning her. She looks angry but a little bit terrified. I open the door and shoot Officer Mack in the back of the skull.  
I have never killed anyone before. This is the first time I actually shot a gun. I let out a gasp as he fell to the ground. Amata looks at me somewhat relieved but so alarmed that I think she is afraid of me. The Overseer jumped and then looked at me. I point the gun at him.  
"No!" Amata screams.  
"Look, girl, don't do anything you will regret." He says. His eyes are cold and unforgiving. I bet mine look the same.  
"You killed Jonas. You killed him for no reason. And I think the quote an eye for an eye goes quite well this scenario." I say.  
"He had to go he knew too much." He says. I push my eyebrows together.  
"What do you mean? You murdered him in cold blood!" I yell. Tears were almost escaping my eyes, but I blink them back I had to be strong.  
"Listen…" He starts.  
"No shut the fuck up. You are going to listen to me. I want your password to your terminal and I will be out of this vault quick and slick." I demand.  
"Oh is that all? Do you want a Nuka Cola while you are at it?! You can go to hell!" he yells back.  
"I'll shoot. And if that isn't enough." I say I point the gun at Amata. Something turns in my stomach. Obviously this was a complete bluff; I really hope she knows that. And if she does I really hope she could understand.  
"Oh my god. You would shoot her. Fine, take the damn password but I don't ever want to see you ever again." He says. I point the gun down quickly and accept the password into my pit-boy. I then leave the room without looking at Amata. I run to the reactor room. I see Jonas body. I bite my lip. I let the tears fall. In his hands I see a holotape. I download it into my pit-boy. Before I could play it I hear security guards running down the stairs. I run out of the reactor room and find the Overseer's office.  
I look on my pit-boy to find the password. Amata. I should have guessed. I type it in. I click on the demand to open the secret passage to the entrance. Without warning the Overseer's desk lifts and reveals a flight of stairs. I travel down these stairs and run down the hall way. When I open a hidden door, I see the vault door. I take a deep breath. I was shaking with excitement. I jump when I feel a tap on my shoulder.  
I turn around. It's Amata. I quickly give her a tight hug.  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I ramble. She hugs back.  
"It's okay. I knew you were bluffing. I mean you aren't a very good liar." She says. I laugh at her petty insult. I knew I really wasn't. It was because I didn't have to lie very much in my life.  
"I am so relieved! Thank you." I say. We break apart. I could see the sadness in her eyes. My smile fades.  
"Well, I guess this is goodbye." She says. I nod and sigh.  
"Yeah. Thank you so much Amata. For everything." I say. She smiles.  
"No problem." She says. I give her one last quick hug. I turn the switch on to open the entrance. The alarm goes off as the Vault door is being open. I hear guards coming through the door. I then run out. I look back once more. Amata is crying as she watches me leave. When the door closes, I walk to the wooden door never to look back.


	4. Chapter 1-3

I kept my eyes wide open, starring up at the cold metal ceiling. It's been hours since I was sent to bed by dad. If he knew I hadn't slept yet, he wouldn't be too happy.  
"Sleep is very important for a growing girl, especially at your age." He would say. But how could I sleep? It was my birthday today. Not only was it my birthday, it was my tenth birthday! Three things were happening that made me shaking with excitement. First thing was I will be getting my very own Pit-Boy. Second thing was I finally get to do important stuff around the Vault. Third thing was… well double digits!  
Of course dad couldn't get mad at me if I he did find out I didn't sleep. Besides how could he find out? I can be sneaky. Even around him.  
I could hear him mumbling in his sleep in the other room. He fell asleep on his desk. And he's worried about MY sleep. I turn on my right side facing the wall. I wondered about what dad got me. He has been very secretive about it and all that does is make me want to know more. Finally, today is the day when I will find out. But even waiting one more moment was the most agonizing feeling ever.  
I gnaw on the inside of my cheek, an insignificant habit one of many. But I soon stop when the soft snoring coming from the other room stops. I hear a light groan. He is awake. Curling into a tight ball I shut my eyes tight. Not long after I hear the metal door open. A light floods the room. I hear dad walk to my bed. Chuckling lightly, he pats gently on my shoulder.  
"You can stop faking now." He whispers. I could hear the smile in his voice. I smile too, before I open my eyes. I look at him. His bright blue eyes are soulful and full of joy as if this had already been the best day ever. The very opposite when I catch him starring at the frame that holds my mother's favorite verse.  
Mom… if only she was here, if only she could see me know. Would she be proud? I ask myself this question a lot. I asked dad about it once.  
"Daenerys, if your mother could meet you now, I don't think she wouldn't be ever more proud of her daughter. I couldn't imagine her not feeling that way. And I feel the same way. Never think different." He told me. In some way that comment did comfort me. But in other ways it didn't. It made me want her here more. It made me want her to tell me herself. I wanted to hear her say I am proud to call you my mother.  
"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," dad says. He gives me a light kiss on the forehead.  
"Thanks, dad." I smile back at him. He stands back up straight.  
"Come on; let's get the birthday girl a birthday breakfast." He says. I quickly prop up, eyes wide and smile big.  
"Sugar bombs?!" I ask hastily. He smile grows and he nods. Leaping out of bed, I put on my standard black boots and we leave together to the cafeteria. Passing by the window, I noticed something odd. The lights were off. Usually the lights are always one. Was there something wrong with the wiring? But soon the thought of sugar bombs melted my curiosity away. When we enter, the lights flash on and I wince from the sudden light.  
I heard a group yelling, "Happy Birthday!"  
Dad was among them. He was now standing in front of me. Everyone was clapping. I smile while I blushed.  
I almost didn't notice a comment saying the light almost blinded me. When the sting from the light subsided in my eyes and my vision cleared, dad was had his arms crossed and was smiling.  
"Happy Birthday, honey. Ten years old! That's something. If only your mother could have been here to…" He says. Dad was soon interrupted by the overseer. Dad glares at him for interrupting his birthday speech to me.  
"Now, I think you know why I am here. This is an important day. Now that you are ten you get to start your first Vault responsibilities. And I almost forgot you get your very own Pit-Boy 3000. Be careful with it. You only get one and that one you will be stuck with 'til the day you die. You report in tomorrow." He explains. Walking past me to leave, he then turns back to me. His thin fingers nervously stretching his silver stubble while he leaves a last remark.

"Oh and… happy birthday." He mutters. Quickly, he leaves. The overseer is old but is always quick to leave, too quickly for his age. Always has been. But I don't think his appearance has changed in the last ten years of my existence.  
Grabbing my attention, dad grabs my shoulder. My gaze goes back to him. He looks at me with the same gentle eyes as he had before.  
"Enjoy your party." He whispers. Dad then sits at the counter by Officer Gomez. My best friend Amata skips to me, giggling mischievously.  
"We got you, didn't we? Your dad and I can pull off a pretty good party. We had you so fooled!" She laughs. I cross my arms defensively.  
" I totally did know! I just… I just didn't want to dim your spirits." I say, holding my head a little higher.  
"Okay, uh huh, whatever you say Miss Detective. If you are so smart what did your friend Amata get you for your birthday?" she says. This is when my "insignificant" habit returns. I bit on the inside of my cheek.  
"Uh, a date with Freddie Gomez?" I say quietly. I'm surprised that she even hears me.  
"What?! You like boys? And not just boys, you like Freddie? Have you lost your mind? And before you ask, no I did not get you a date with Freddie Gomez." She says rolling her eyes with a disgusted sigh.  
I shrug while I look away, too embarrassed to look at her in the face.  
"What did you get me?" I ask. That's when Amata's face lit up.  
"You are going to love it!" she said. "Drum roll please." She announces. I pat my knees repeatly.  
"Ta-da!" She yells as she pulls out a comic. "Gronak! No missing pages, and only has one stain that you see on the cover. Found it in my dad's things. Pretty cool, huh?" She says excitedly.  
My smile widens. So wide I cover my mouth with my hands.  
"All for me?" I ask. She nods as she hands it to me.  
When I hug Amata, I say thanks. My excitement has lifted thousands times more than it did this morning. This was the best birthday ever.

After thanking everyone coming to my party, witnessing my cake being obliterated by a robot, and having a sweet roll shoved in my face while being called "nerd" by Butch, you might say this might not be my best birthday yet. I have had better ones.  
But after wiping my face with a napkin and Butch getting scorned by Officer Gomez, dad finally said it was time to open his present.  
I follow him down to the Reactor level. Normally, people my age weren't allowed down there but I am friends with the manager, Jonas. Jonas was about my father's age. He had thick black rimmed glasses and dark skin that was uncommon in the Vault. There was no exposure from the sun. I wondered if someone went out there now, would they be immediately tanned. How long would it take?  
When we arrive he congratulates me on my birthday.  
"Thanks, Jonas." I say politely. Glancing at my dad I raise my eyebrows.  
"Can I have my present now?" I ask. He laughs. Nodding, he looks at Jonas.  
"Jonas would you," he says pointing to the locker behind Jonas. Jonas nods with a smile. When my dad catches me starring at Jonas, he turns me towards him.  
"Now, honey, I want you to be extremely careful with this gift. It is not a toy. I think you are old enough to understand the responsibility and can take care of it." He says. His face is serious. The tone of his voice makes me listen carefully and I take him seriously. When I nod to understanding to his request, he smiles again. I breathe.  
I look at Jonas and gasp. It's a gun.  
"Here you go kiddo." Jonas hands me over the rifle.  
"Your very own BB gun." Dad says.  
"What do I get to shoot?" I say. Dad gives a slight smile.  
"Let's not get to hasty. Remember this is a responsibility." He says. Dad leads me to a room were small targets are set up. He teaches me how to load and shoot. Before I know it, I am hitting the targets with no problem.  
"Come on honey, let's get a picture. Jonas! Take a picture of me and Daenerys." Dad says. Jonas raises the camera and takes a picture. The flash is bright but caught the moment, the moment when our lives were simple, where we were happy and safe. We were safe.

2

I kept my eyes wide open, starring up at the cold metal ceiling. It's been hours since I was sent to bed by dad. If he knew I hadn't slept yet, he wouldn't be too happy.  
"Sleep is very important for a growing girl, especially at your age." He would say. But how could I sleep? It was my birthday today. Not only was it my birthday, it was my tenth birthday! Three things were happening that made me shaking with excitement. First thing was I will be getting my very own Pit-Boy. Second thing was I finally get to do important stuff around the Vault. Third thing was… well double digits!  
Of course dad couldn't get mad at me if I he did find out I didn't sleep. Besides how could he find out? I can be sneaky. Even around him.  
I could hear him mumbling in his sleep in the other room. He fell asleep on his desk. And he's worried about MY sleep. I turn on my right side facing the wall. I wondered about what dad got me. He has been very secretive about it and all that does is make me want to know more. Finally, today is the day when I will find out. But even waiting one more moment was the most agonizing feeling ever.  
I gnaw on the inside of my cheek, an insignificant habit one of many. But I soon stop when the soft snoring coming from the other room stops. I hear a light groan. He is awake. Curling into a tight ball I shut my eyes tight. Not long after I hear the metal door open. A light floods the room. I hear dad walk to my bed. Chuckling lightly, he pats gently on my shoulder.  
"You can stop faking now." He whispers. I could hear the smile in his voice. I smile too, before I open my eyes. I look at him. His bright blue eyes are soulful and full of joy as if this had already been the best day ever. The very opposite when I catch him starring at the frame that holds my mother's favorite verse.  
Mom… if only she was here, if only she could see me know. Would she be proud? I ask myself this question a lot. I asked dad about it once.  
"Daenerys, if your mother could meet you now, I don't think she wouldn't be ever more proud of her daughter. I couldn't imagine her not feeling that way. And I feel the same way. Never think different." He told me. In some way that comment did comfort me. But in other ways it didn't. It made me want her here more. It made me want her to tell me herself. I wanted to hear her say I am proud to call you my mother.  
"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," dad says. He gives me a light kiss on the forehead.  
"Thanks, dad." I smile back at him. He stands back up straight.  
"Come on; let's get the birthday girl a birthday breakfast." He says. I quickly prop up, eyes wide and smile big.  
"Sugar bombs?!" I ask hastily. He smile grows and he nods. Leaping out of bed, I put on my standard black boots and we leave together to the cafeteria. Passing by the window, I noticed something odd. The lights were off. Usually the lights are always one. Was there something wrong with the wiring? But soon the thought of sugar bombs melted my curiosity away. When we enter, the lights flash on and I wince from the sudden light.  
I heard a group yelling, "Happy Birthday!"  
Dad was among them. He was now standing in front of me. Everyone was clapping. I smile while I blushed.  
I almost didn't notice a comment saying the light almost blinded me. When the sting from the light subsided in my eyes and my vision cleared, dad was had his arms crossed and was smiling.  
"Happy Birthday, honey. Ten years old! That's something. If only your mother could have been here to…" He says. Dad was soon interrupted by the overseer. Dad glares at him for interrupting his birthday speech to me.  
"Now, I think you know why I am here. This is an important day. Now that you are ten you get to start your first Vault responsibilities. And I almost forgot you get your very own Pit-Boy 3000. Be careful with it. You only get one and that one you will be stuck with 'til the day you die. You report in tomorrow." He explains. Walking past me to leave, he then turns back to me. His thin fingers nervously stretching his silver stubble while he leaves a last remark.

"Oh and… happy birthday." He mutters. Quickly, he leaves. The overseer is old but is always quick to leave, too quickly for his age. Always has been. But I don't think his appearance has changed in the last ten years of my existence.  
Grabbing my attention, dad grabs my shoulder. My gaze goes back to him. He looks at me with the same gentle eyes as he had before.  
"Enjoy your party." He whispers. Dad then sits at the counter by Officer Gomez. My best friend Amata skips to me, giggling mischievously.  
"We got you, didn't we? Your dad and I can pull off a pretty good party. We had you so fooled!" She laughs. I cross my arms defensively.  
" I totally did know! I just… I just didn't want to dim your spirits." I say, holding my head a little higher.  
"Okay, uh huh, whatever you say Miss Detective. If you are so smart what did your friend Amata get you for your birthday?" she says. This is when my "insignificant" habit returns. I bit on the inside of my cheek.  
"Uh, a date with Freddie Gomez?" I say quietly. I'm surprised that she even hears me.  
"What?! You like boys? And not just boys, you like Freddie? Have you lost your mind? And before you ask, no I did not get you a date with Freddie Gomez." She says rolling her eyes with a disgusted sigh.  
I shrug while I look away, too embarrassed to look at her in the face.  
"What did you get me?" I ask. That's when Amata's face lit up.  
"You are going to love it!" she said. "Drum roll please." She announces. I pat my knees repeatly.  
"Ta-da!" She yells as she pulls out a comic. "Gronak! No missing pages, and only has one stain that you see on the cover. Found it in my dad's things. Pretty cool, huh?" She says excitedly.  
My smile widens. So wide I cover my mouth with my hands.  
"All for me?" I ask. She nods as she hands it to me.  
When I hug Amata, I say thanks. My excitement has lifted thousands times more than it did this morning. This was the best birthday ever.

After thanking everyone coming to my party, witnessing my cake being obliterated by a robot, and having a sweet roll shoved in my face while being called "nerd" by Butch, you might say this might not be my best birthday yet. I have had better ones.  
But after wiping my face with a napkin and Butch getting scorned by Officer Gomez, dad finally said it was time to open his present.  
I follow him down to the Reactor level. Normally, people my age weren't allowed down there but I am friends with the manager, Jonas. Jonas was about my father's age. He had thick black rimmed glasses and dark skin that was uncommon in the Vault. There was no exposure from the sun. I wondered if someone went out there now, would they be immediately tanned. How long would it take?  
When we arrive he congratulates me on my birthday.  
"Thanks, Jonas." I say politely. Glancing at my dad I raise my eyebrows.  
"Can I have my present now?" I ask. He laughs. Nodding, he looks at Jonas.  
"Jonas would you," he says pointing to the locker behind Jonas. Jonas nods with a smile. When my dad catches me starring at Jonas, he turns me towards him.  
"Now, honey, I want you to be extremely careful with this gift. It is not a toy. I think you are old enough to understand the responsibility and can take care of it." He says. His face is serious. The tone of his voice makes me listen carefully and I take him seriously. When I nod to understanding to his request, he smiles again. I breathe.  
I look at Jonas and gasp. It's a gun.  
"Here you go kiddo." Jonas hands me over the rifle.  
"Your very own BB gun." Dad says.  
"What do I get to shoot?" I say. Dad gives a slight smile.  
"Let's not get to hasty. Remember this is a responsibility." He says. Dad leads me to a room were small targets are set up. He teaches me how to load and shoot. Before I know it, I am hitting the targets with no problem.  
"Come on honey, let's get a picture. Jonas! Take a picture of me and Daenerys." Dad says. Jonas raises the camera and takes a picture. The flash is bright but caught the moment, the moment when our lives were simple, where we were happy and safe. We were safe.

3

Seven Years Later.  
"Amata you are going to love your present from me." I say. She smiles. Gingerly, I grab the carefully wrapped present, and presented it to her. I clasp my hands together bend my wrist to the left and laid my chin on the outside of my hand. May I add this was another petty habit that I possessed.  
When she opened it, her eyes go wide. She pulls out a politics book and Fancy Lady's Cakes. Amata plans to be overseer one day. She finds the old politics methods fascinating.  
"Thank you so much, Daenerys!" She squeals. Tightly she hugs me.  
"Open mine, next!" Wally Mack yells. I look back at Wally. It's been so obvious for the past few years. He has an undying crush on Amata. Who wouldn't? She's smart, nice and funny. The only thing I can't figure out is if she likes him. We are best friends but this seems to be a subject that she doesn't like to share, but it is obvious she likes him too.  
While Wally gives Amata his present, Freddie taps me on the shoulder. I look at him, immediately blushing.  
"Can I show you Amata's present? I want to make sure she likes it." He whispers in my ear. All I can do is nod. When I get up to leave I catch Amata's eye. She raises a brow and has a smirk. I roll my eyes but smile.  
Gomez leads me down from the Atrium back to the Aparments Level. As we enter his room I notice that no one else was in his apartment. I cleared my throat with a slight cough and bit my lip.  
"So, what did you get Amata?" I ask. He sits on his bed and pats next to him, inviting me to sit with him. Now I am afraid of what I think he is implying. I have never been with a guy before. I was seventeen and had never kissed a boy. And it is normal for a girl to always imagine this moment. This moment I imagined it with Freddie, but not like this. For some reason I want to run. I want to run to dad and be safe in his arms. But a part of me wanted to stay, a part of me wanted to join in what Freddie was implying. Some part of me felt rebellious and didn't want dad to know. Dad and I usually never keep secrets. I have always done what he request and I have been an obedient daughter. In fact I worshipped the ground he walked on. But now, for some reason, I wanted to break all the rules. I wanted be bad. And bad was what I was going to be.  
Shaking, I sat down next to him. I kept my thighs clenched tightly together, my hands in my lap and my eyes down. I was ashamed that this was me being bad. Freddie smiled at me. He pulled out a box from his nightstand. When he opened it, I curiously looked over his shoulder. It Nuka Cola. Only this Nuka cola glowed. It had a purple hue. Its aura glowed through Freddie's hands.  
"Cool, huh? It's a Nuka Quantum. I found it in a vending machine." He says. I reach my hands out to the bottle. The tips of my fingers touch the cold Nuka bottle softly.  
"I have never seen anything like it." I say. He nods and smiles. His smile made me melt. He looks at the bottle. Then he puts it back on the nightstand and looks at it for a second. When he turns his gaze back to me, I look in his brown eyes. He gives me a shy smile and looks at my lips.  
"You know, this isn't the reason I brought you down here." He says still starring at my lips. I look away.  
"I know." I say. He uses two of his fingers to turn my head to him. He kisses me. When he pulls away my whole body feels like a field full of electricity. My mouth forms a tiny gap as I look into his eyes. I can tell my thoughts earlier about being reappear in my eyes. I could tell how turned on he was. He wouldn't stop staring at my lips.  
"Wow." I hear him gasp. I pull his face so his lips meet mine. It's his hands that unzip my jump suit first. He pulls off my tank top which exposes my bra. All girls were given the same bras; the colors were black, white, and grey. I was wearing my black bra. Goosebumps strike my back first when he starts kissing my chest and grabs my breast. I gasp every time he gives a gentle squeeze. I moan softly. This is where I feel something take over. As if I had an alter ego. I grab his hands fiercely and pin him on the bed. I bite his zipper and pull with my mouth all the way open. He moans loudly. When his jumpsuit is off, all that is exposed his white undershirt and underwear. He pulls me close to him. He changes our position so he is on top of me. I let my hand rub up his chest feeling every muscle. I give out a long breath. He sits up and takes off his shirt while he looks down at me. I breathing heavily and the anticipation are almost unbearable to withstand. In this position I can feel the bulge in his pants fully. I try to grab his wrist but the wait for the arrival of pleasure makes me weak. Before my hand falls grabs it gently and kisses my palm. Then abruptly, let's go and rips my underwear off. He kisses around my inner thigh and my lower belly. But I don't start moaning louder when he makes his way towards the middle of my legs. My back arches, my head tilts back and my hand grip the sheets so tight my fingers go numb. He gently rubs my thighs and the arch in my back. I grab his hair tug on it not too hard, but hard enough to let him know to keep going. When he finishes, I am out of breath. We don't break eye contact.  
He slides back up to me. I start to take off his underwear and he takes of my bra. When my chest is exposed, my instinct is to cover. So I stop pulling his pants down and cover my chest.  
"Hey…" He cooed. He gently pulled my hands away and kisses my breast. I close my eyes. He finishes taking off his underwear.  
We kiss when he is first in me. I pull away from his lips to gasp from the surprising tingling. I have heard that the first time is supposed to hurt, some girls even bleed but, this was unexpected. With the pain, there was pleasure, I never thought of sex being like this.  
He grabs my hips and thrusts. I moan.  
"Fr- ah-mm." I gasp. I couldn't even say a complete word. He bites my neck. He pants. I can feel his warm breath on my neck. I claw at his back. He moans. This is when I notice I made him bleed. Quickly I remove my hands, feeling guilty.  
"No. I… ahh… I like it." He breathes. I continue to scratch his back and he moans as I go over the already ripped skin.  
We finish when we both give out a loud yell.  
"Fuck." He pants. He rolls off of me. I look at him and look at my clock. We have been gone for twenty minutes.  
"We should get back." I say. He shakes his head.  
"Not yet." He says. He then gives me an open kiss; I rub my hand up his chest. And that's when I heard the door open.  
In the doorway, stood wide eyed, mouth opens Tunnel Snake Leader. Butch. I gasp.  
He stares for a second and leaves the room.  
"Oh no." I say. I get up start putting my bra and underwear on franticly. Freddie looks confused. And stares at me for a moment.  
"What?" He finally asks.  
"He's going to tell my dad." I say. He continues to stare.  
"What?" he asks again.  
"Look if I know Butch, he likes to make my life a living hell. He knows how much of daddy's girl I am." I say zipping up my jumpsuit.  
"Um…" He starts. Now that the bad girl in me has passed I start too ashamed and even sick. I stand there wondering what to say, and then I realize I have no time so I bolt out of the room.  
Thankfully, I catch up to Butch.  
"Butch!" I call. He doesn't turn around he keeps walking away. He looks angry for some reason. Maybe because his fellow Tunnel Snake slept with his worst enemy. I am really starting to regret doing anything. I regret everything.  
"Butch!" I call again. Once again there is no answer. I stop running. "Would you just stop and listen?!" I yell. He stops but doesn't turn around.  
"Please. Just don't tell my dad. Or anyone." I say. He turns around. His face is full of fury and the tone of his voice is sharp like a knife.  
"Is that all you think about? You and your precious daddy? Do you ever think that a decision of yours can seriously fuck someone up?!" He yells. When he yells I look up worried of what he might do to me. I feel small and innocent like a doe being chased by a wolf. I think I can feel its claws on my heels.  
"No." I say very quietly. Then I notice he was looking at my chest. I look down and notice that my jumpsuit isn't fully zipped. My bra is exposed and I quickly zip it up. I cross my arms. Not because I was upset because I wanted to cover that I so easily exposed.  
Butch's lip tightens. I look down and don't look up. Then I hear footsteps behind me. When I turn I see its Freddie. Then I feel sick.  
I could feel Butch's anger irrupting off of him.  
"You are a dead man, Gomez." Says Butch. Freddie spreads his arms open, challenging Butch.  
"Why? 'Cause I fucked some girl?" He yelled back.  
Freddie's not only stung, but gave me the need to vomit. I run to the restroom. I get there just in time. I vomit.  
"_fucked some girl?"  
_Tears pass my eyelids.  
"_some girl?"_  
I vomit more. Freddie's words keep stinging the more they play back in my mind.  
After I wash my face I look in the mirror. My messy chocolate brown hair falls tangled down my sides. It looks like I was attacked by some animal. My face is blotchy and my cheeks become wet with more tears. I look different, like I grew from a girl to a woman. My brown eyes didn't look innocent. How did I let that happen? Why did I let it happen? What did I become? I felt sick but not enough to throw up again. It was nice to be free. Even if was for a short time but now all I feel is guilt.  
I run to my apartment. Dad is at his desk. He looks up at me.  
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at Amata's party?" He asks. Its only after his question he notices my tears. I ran to him and threw my arms around him. I grabbed so tight that I wouldn't let go. Why didn't I go here in the first place? I should of. 'Cause now I am safe.  
"What's wrong? What happened?" he asks. I shake my head and bury it in his shoulder.  
"There, there." He says patting my back.  
The door opens. Dad and I look at who it is. It's Officer Gomez. He looks at me suspiciously for a moment but then his gaze softens as if he pitied me. I quickly wipe my face of any trace of tears.  
"We need you, James. Butch and Freddie got into it. Freddie has a broken nose and Butch had a cracked rib." Gomez says. Dad sets me up standing. He looks at me.  
"I'll be back, honey. Soon, I promise." He says. I nod. Dad then leaves to the clinic. I curl up on my bed and wait.

When dad comes back, he sighs when he sees me. My heart drops. _Does he know?_  
"Look, I don't know what happened or why it happened but I would like it if you stayed away from those boys. At least for right now." He says.  
I nod. He hugs me. I hug back tightly and I never want to let go.  
"I love you, honey." He says.  
"I love you too, Dad." I say.


	5. Chapter 6

6  
When I open out into the wasteland, I am blinded by the amount of sunlight that stings in my eyes. Slowly and cautiously, I walk out into the open. When my vision cleared I saw skeleton of homes and old broken roads. This is the wasteland that everyone wondered about. This is what The Overseer feared the most. For some reason I started to fear it too. _This is what dad left the Vault for?  
_ I start to run into the dead town and look around for any sign of where my dad could have gone. He has hours head start from me, and I better catch up fast. When I got into the middle of the town, I saw a sign with yellow paint. MEGATON.  
I followed where the sign pointed. That's when I heard what sounded like thousands of radraoches behind me. When I turned around, I saw what looked like a giant scorpion. Now I have seen scorpions in comics I read when I was younger, but they weren't bigger than your hand and this one was bigger than me!  
"Oh, shit!" I say while turning my heel and sprinting away. But it stung my leg and I fell to the ground. I turn on my back and start crawling away. Then I heard gunshots. I look up to see the scorpion is dead.  
"You okay?" A man asks. I nod.  
"What the fuck was that?" I ask. He gives me a confused look, like I was the stupidest person in the wasteland.  
"What did you just crawl out of a Vault? It was a radscorpion. Nasty little things." He says.  
"Little?" I questioned. He shrugs and inhaled on his cigarette.  
"Well anyway my name is Crazy Wolfgang. And that is my caravan. Interested in trading?" he offers. I shake my head.  
I get up and brush myself off. When I look at where Crazy Wolfgang walking to, I see a large brown wall. That must be Megaton.  
I walk over what appears to be the doors. When I approach them, the big doors move up and lets me in. I walk in. When I walk through another pair of doors, I see a town that is surrounding a big ditch. I look around. There was a man with a cowboy hat and trench coat. He walked over to me.  
"Wow another visitor. Welcome to Megaton. My name is Lucas Simms, mayor and on occasion sheriff of this settlement." He says. I remained silent didn't know what to say. He waits respectfully for a moment.  
"Quiet. I like quiet unless you are a weirdo. Then if you are, don't cause any trouble or we will kick you back out into the wastes, do we understand each other?" he orders.  
I nod slightly.  
"Good, now what can I help you with? Need directions?" He asks.  
"I'm looking for my father. Have you seen him? Middle aged guy. He was wearing a Vault 101 jumpsuit like me." I say.  
"I can't say, but he probably did visit, but I don't recall. Sorry I can't keep tabs on every visitor. But I bet if he did come her Moriarty would have seen him." He says.  
"Where can I find him?" I ask.  
"He owns the saloon that is by the water processing plant." He says.  
"Thank you." I say. I walk downward and see tons of buildings. There are rails that overlap on other buildings. It was interesting town. I walk up the rails searching for the saloon. Once walking around for a bit, I find the saloon. I rush in without wasting anytime. When I walk in I see a bartender. Only the bartender looked like a walking corpse. Surprisingly I have heard about people like these. Mutants. He must have gotten too much radiation and lived. I felt bad. To live like that would be shit.  
When I sit at the bar, the mutant shyly greets me.  
"Hello." He says. His voice is scratchy as if he smoked three packs a day for the past ten years. But I know better. The radiation.  
"Can I offer you a drink?" He offers. I shake my head.  
"No thanks. But thank you, my good man." I say. He looks at me surprised as if I turned vodka into water.  
"W-what? You aren't going to hit me? Call me ugly? Maybe yell at me for a little bit?" he questions. I shake my head.  
"I wouldn't do that. Why would you think I would?" I ask. I know the answer already, but I act coy.  
"Because… well you know… because of what I am." He says.  
"You haven't been mean to me, you have been very polite, and I have neither reason nor desire to be complete jackass to you." I say.  
"Wow, you're the first person to ever say that, smoothskin." He says. He looks around and moves in closer.  
"Look Moriarty would have my head but for you I would risk it. I am going to give you an unlimited discount on the drinks you buy." He says. I smile and touch his hand.  
"Thank you." I say. He looks completely surprised that I touched him. And I don't know if it is even possible for a mutant to blush, but I swear I saw his face turn red. But I might just be mistaken for the dead skin. "My name is Gob, what's yours smoothskin?" he asks.  
"Daenerys, but call my Danny." I say to Gob. He bangs on the radio that is only playing static noises.  
"Where is Moriarty?" I ask.  
"Out back, probably on his terminal." Gob answers. I nod and get up and quickly walk in the back.  
"What the hell are yer doin' in here lass?" I hear a man with a strange accent say behind me.  
I turn around. A man with silver hair and beard, and sharp blue eyes looks angrily at me.  
I stand there looking at him not saying anything.  
"I said, what the hell are yer doin' back here?" he repeats.  
"Are you Moriarty?" I question. He crosses his arms and looks at me suspiciously.  
"Indeed I am. And who are ya?" He asks.  
"I'm looking for my father; he was wearing a vault 101 jumpsuit like me." I ask.  
"Oh, that was yer father? Yeah he passed through here, but he is long gone now. You look just like him. Oh you were that baby I saw 19 years ago weren't ya?" he asks.  
"What? That's impossible; I was born in a Vault, just like my dad." I say.  
"Oh is that what he told ya? Well sorry to tell ya, he lied." He says. I shake my head.  
"He wouldn't lie to me." I say.  
"Well if yer sure then yer sure. But don't completely erase the possibility." He suggests.  
"Look does know where he went?" I ask.  
"Maybe, what's in it for me?" he asks. I sigh and cross my arms.  
"What the hell could I possibly give you that you want?" I say. He looks down at my breast.  
"Fuck off." I say.  
"Hey, I'm just teasing, lass. What I could really use is for you to get something that is mine and return it to me. Get me that and I will tell ya where old daddy went." He says.  
"What is it and where can I find it?" I ask. He smiles with satisfaction.  
"In Springvale, there is a house with a woman named Silver and she stole my money. She owes me 400 caps." He says.  
"I'll get it for you, but if you don't hold your end of the bargain, I swear…" I say. Before I could finish my threat, he waves me away.  
"Yeah, yeah. You are scary, go get my caps." He says. I glare at him and push him with my shoulder when I walk past him.  
Whoever this woman is, that bitch better be there or I am out of luck.


	6. Chapter 7

7

While I was in Springvale I look around for livable houses. I then see some little houses on the outskirts. I run to the houses and all but one are boarded up. I walk in without knocking. I look around the air is full of dust. I sneeze.  
"Who the hell are you?" a woman yells behind me.  
I jumped in alarm. I turned around to see a woman with blonde short hair that was greying.  
"Are you silver?" I asked.  
"Yeah, who the hell sent you?" Silver questions. I take a deep breath.  
"Moriarty says you owe him money." I say. She sighs and rolls her eyes.  
"That's complete bullshit." She says annoyed.  
"Well, what's your side of the story?" I say irritated.  
"Well I use to work for him. Long story short, I wanted out but he wouldn't let me unless I would do one last… favor for him." she explains.  
"You slept with him." I say. She nods.  
"Yeah, and then I took MY money. Then the bastard said I stole from him. Those were my caps! I made that money!" He said  
I nod. I believe her. Moriarty already lies to me about not being born in the vault so I am convinced that he is a douchebag.  
"Look gives me 300 caps and I will tell him you are gone." I say. She sighs and nods.  
"Okay, thanks. That means a lot. Not having him knowing he can continue harassing me. It's like me winning in a way." She says. I nod.  
"Well I have to go. Good luck out here." I say. She nods. I leave to go back to Megaton.

"What do you mean she is gone?" he says.  
"She wasn't there. It looked like she left in a hurry." I say. He shakes his head and sighs.  
"Well that too bad." He says.  
"You are still going to tell me where my dad went, right?" I say. He stays silent.  
"Right?" I repeat.  
"You didn't keep your end of the deal." He says. Anger floods and seethes through me. I grab him by the collar. I shove him into the wall.  
"Look you little fucker, you tell me where my dad is or else I will fuck you up." I say. I am so close to his face that my spit splats on his face. He doesn't even have the nerve to wipe it off.  
"Fuck off. You do anything to me and everyone in this town will fuck you up. So let go before you get hurt." he says. I shove him away.  
"Now would you like a room for the night best in Megaton." He offers.  
"I'll sleep outside. It's better than being in the same building as you." I retort.  
I leave. When I get outside and it was chilly. I look around. I see the water processing plant. Running over I enter the plant. No one seems to be in here. I walk over to an office. But surprised to see someone. It was a man, about thirty. When I looked into his eyes, it reminded me of Butch when I last saw him. He was high as a kite.  
"Huh? Who are you?" he asked.  
"Who are you?" I ask.  
"Leo. I am… uh… I'm just leaving." He says. He leaves the building. I sit in the corner of the room. I take in a deep breath. I close my eyes.  
In a second, I open my eyes; I remembered the holotape my father left me. I click on my Pip-Boy. The holotape is labeled from dad. I feel a sting in my stomach.  
I play it. I hear dad's tape.  
"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first.

I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again."  
When he said that my heart sank. Maybe? We might not see each other again. That's what he knew and chooses whatever was more important than me. I can't… I won't accept this. I let the tears pass. I am alone.  
"I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."

Then I hear Jonas's voice.

"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."  
Then dad's voice comes back on.  
"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you." The tape ends.  
I lose it. The 'I love you' was the breaking point. Why would he leave me? I know he wants me safe but I just wish I had a choice in my own life.  
How could he leave me and never see me again. I just can't understand. I sigh. I cry for the rest of the night.


	7. Chapter 8

8

I woke up to metallic banging. For a moment I think I am in the Vault. That dad never left, but I realize and remember that he did leave and that I killed someone. _I killed someone._  
I get up and dust myself off. I go back to the saloon. I see Gob.  
"Hey, how's my favorite smoothskin?" he says. I smile at him but it was weak.  
"Did you see anything when a man, middle aged, with vault 101 jumpsuit?" I ask.  
He hesitates then looks down nervously.  
"Gob if you know anything, please, I need to know." I plead.  
"I remember your dad being here but I don't know where he went but Moriarty usually reports stuff on his terminal." He says. I let out a sigh of relief.  
"Thank you Gob. Thank you so much. I owe you." I say.  
"He isn't in the back you better hurry before he gets back there." He warns. I smile.  
When I get behind the counter, I hug Gob. He seems surprised at first but hugs back. It's sad it's like he hasn't been hugged in a long time.  
I get in the back room; I find the terminal and hack into it. It was easy enough. I use to hack into my teacher's terminal and change my grades. I look through and find an entry. I click on Visitors. Then I click on my dad's name James.  
It reads:  
So out of nowhere James comes back to Megaton. Since he has stayed here before, he asked me what he could get the lay of the land and knows what is going on in the world. I told him about Galaxy News Radio and about Three Dog. And then like that he was gone.

I am breathless. He was here before. He wasn't born in the vault I wasn't born in the Vault. No there has to be an explanation. Moriarty could have known that I would go on his terminal and planted it. But that's a stretch but not impossible.  
So Galaxy News Radio? In downtown D.C? I got this. I get up and walk out of the back room, and wasn't seen.  
"Hey Gob. Is there a store that sells guns and armor?" I ask. He nods.  
"Craterside Supply. It's by the clinic." He said. I give him a last hug. I know he really needs it, considering I might not be back.  
"Goodbye Gob, good luck here." I say.  
"Bye smoothskin, good luck finding your dad." He says.  
"Thank you." I say. I leave without looking back. I run to the direction of the clinic. I find Craterside Supply. I walk in to see a redhead with wide eyes.  
"Hi there!" she says.  
"Uh, hi. I hear you sell guns?" I say.  
"Oh yes! Here is what I have for sale." She says excitedly. I look at the selection. I buy an Assault rifle, .357 magnum, and leather armor. I put on the leather armor in the other room. The pants are black and tight. So was the tank top. I put the metal vest on and bracers on the forearms. I then go to the clinic.  
"I haven't seen you before. So I better tell my rule. Don't come in here and waste my time unless you are seriously hurt." he says. "By the way I'm Doc Church. Now you can in here on you're to legs and you don't look dead. What do you want?" he says bitterly.  
I raise an eyebrow.  
"Medical supplies." I say.  
"Planning on get shot up like all the stupid wastelanders? Okay here's what I got." He says not changing his tone.  
I buy a few stimpacks and Med-x and blood pack. Doc Church is an asshole. So I steal some medical supplies. A lot of it.  
Then I leave. I find Lucas Simms.  
"Hey can you show me directions to Galaxy News Radio?" I ask. I click on my Pip-Boy and turn to the map.  
He gives me directions and he I might have to go through a metro tunnel which are full of feral ghouls. Apparently Gob is a ghoul but not feral but eventually he will turn into one. I am sad to hear it but I think of more important things like my dad.  
Lucas told me there are tons of super mutants and that it is very dangerous. But I will find my dad even if I die for because otherwise I can't live without him.  
So I leave Megaton behind to go and discover the great unknown to find Galaxy News Radio.


	8. Chapter 9

9  
I arrive at the Metro Junction about two hours after I leave from Megaton. I take a deep breath before I walk into the underground metro. I just hope no raiders or ghouls are lingering around in the tunnels. But I could feel my luck run out.  
I open the fence gates and wonder in. I could hear the hum of machines motors running. I walk slowly and quietly with my assault rifle in hand. Then I hear snicker and talking. I crouch and hide behind an old ticket booth. When I peek out I see a woman with a spiked hair and shaved sides. There was a man too with no hair and on his belt had hands.  
They were dirty and had dried blood all over there armor. One was smoking a cigarette and the other was injecting some brown liquid from a dirty syringe. I aim my gun. I breathe in slowly.  
Bang.  
The woman falls after her head is blown off. The man jumps up. He pulls out a revolver. That is not going to go well against my rifle. I aim again.  
"What the fuck?" The raider says. He doesn't even wipe off the blood that soaks his skin. I shoot. I get his arm and he drops his gun.  
"Ahh!" He yells. I shoot again. He falls to the ground and struggles. He keeps groaning as I but the rifle over my shoulder. As I get it up I am pushed back down. I moan as my head hits the ground. When I turn on my back a man with bright red hair and cuts on his face. He has a knife to my neck and I know he would use it. I try to struggle out from his grip. He tries to rip my pants off but I kick him in the stomach. He groans and tries to cut my throat. But I dodge and get cut on the cheek instead.  
"Come on! Stay still." He says. His voice is tainted with insanity. I kick and break free. Before he attacks me I take out my assault rifle and shoot him. He dies on the floor. All I could hear my heavy breathing echo through the tunnel. I wipe my cheek to see blood spilling out. I will tend to it later. I just want to get out of this hellhole.  
I run down the escalator and into the tunnels. I walk in the dark tunnels and all that is laminating was the green glow that was coming from my Pip-Boy. All I could hear was my own breathing and my footsteps.  
I walk into a room with another smaller tunnel and walk where leads me. The tunnel ends at stairs. I run up them and find another door. I sigh. _Do these tunnels ever end?  
_About an hour later I found a way out that my Pip-Boy recognized as Chevy Chase. In the distance I hear gun shots and yelling. When I get in the clearing I see a yellow tall and very big figure. Then the figure turned around. A super mutant. His face was monstrous. I shoot franticly and he after more than ten shots he fell down. I am breathless. These creatures are horrifying.  
Another coming at me with a large gun my heart stops.  
Then he falls down and a man in metal armor is standing behind him. I let out a breath of air, but still keep my gun up.  
"What the hell are you doing out here citizen? You got a death wish? Look you can tag along if you stay out of our way and shoot the mutants." The solider says. I run with him to the other people in metal armor.  
I travel with them to kill more super mutants. We end up at my destination when a huge super mutant runs to the building. It almost crushes me when I dive out of the way. The super mutant is bigger than the GNR building. I help by shooting the mutant but I honestly don't think I was doing any damage.  
But whoever these soldiers are, manage to bring down the beast. I run to the building and look around. The doors were locked. By the door was an intercom speaker. I push the button but jump back in alarm when it spoke to me.  
'Yeah, yeah come in its all clear out there, and the door is unlocked now." It says. I open the door and look around. I run the stairs and open the first door I see. I am in a studio and I see a man sitting at a desk.  
I walk up to him.  
"Three Dog?" I ask. He turns around and smiles.  
"That's me, traveler of the wastes. What can I do for you?" He says smoothly.  
"A man was here. Middle aged, wearing a vault jumpsuit. Have you seen him?" I ask sternly.  
"Whoa there, calm down. He was here but what's it to you?" He says. His voice did not change. It was smooth, soothing, and very commercial. It was odd to listen to him talk like it.  
"He's my father." I sigh.  
"Yeah, he was here." He says.  
"Did he say where he was going? What he was doing?" I ask. My voice changed, unlike Three Dog's. It was quick and desperate.  
"Look, there something I need. And maybe when can help each other out." He says. I groan.  
"Look I don't have time to do your little chores. I need answers! NOW!" I yell.  
"I am not going to just tell you. This is the wasteland. Nothing is free." He says. I groan again.  
"What the hell do you want me to do?" I ask.  
"The signal isn't coming clear across the wasteland. There's just a bunch of static, and I need to support the good fight and have my show broadcasted across the wasteland. You feeling traveler?" He says. I roll my eyes.  
"Yeah, yeah. So where do I come in? How do I get the signal working?" I inquire.  
"It might not be as simple as that. You have to go into the inners of D.C. It's dangerous. You will have to go to the Museum of Technology. There's a disk from some spacecraft made long before the Great War. It's called Lunar, Virgo or something but it's the main attraction. Then you got to go to the Washington Monument. Go to the top and install it into radio equipment." He explains. I sigh. This going to take a while.  
"When I come back, you better tell me everything I want to know." I say.  
"Hey if you do this for me I will sing for ya." He says. I leave.


	9. Chapter 10

10

It took about a day to get to, in, and out of the Museum of Technology. I found the disk with no problem; it was the super mutants that caused the problem. One of their bullets skid past my leg and it bled like a son of bitch. When I finally reached the disk I felt myself losing more and more blood. I couldn't attend to my wounds because I would die if I didn't get out of there soon.  
I took a few stimpacks and tied ripped part of my jumpsuit on my wound. When I got to the monument, I see more people with the same metal armor as before. They let me in to the monument. I walk in I see an elevator. I limp to it. When I press the button and the elevator ascends to the top of the monument, I slip down to the floor of the elevator. I was in the corner. And I looked up to the ceiling. A square tile was popped out and I could see the sky getting closer. Finally the elevator makes it to the top.  
I take the disk and find the radio equipment.  
I moan from the pain in my leg. I install the disk as best as I could but then I hear a nearby radio broadcast a station.  
"Hey, hey, lovely wastelanders! It's me Three Dog! Ooooowww! And this is Galaxy News Radio speaking out to you loud and clear!" The radio screams. I smile. _Thank god I could do it_.  
This is when I attend to my leg. I pull my pants off and sit on a nearby mattress. The wound isn't as bad as it feels. The stimpacks are working well to heal it. I take another, and take a bottle of water and clean it. I clean the strip of fabric from my jumpsuit. I tied it tightly around my leg. I check my Pip-Boy. Night is arriving soon and it would be safer to stay here until morning.  
I lay back and try to get some rest.

The morning heat raises its temperature by the hour. I am almost at GNR when it turns to noon. Around Chevy Chase there is no super mutants, so I think the people in the metal armor cleared it out pretty well.  
After I arrive at GNR Three Dog greets me as if I was an old friend.  
"Now that is amazing, I can be heard clearly across the capital wasteland and it's all thanks to you!" He laughs.  
"Now will you tell me what I want to know?" I ask. He nods.  
"Yes, a deal is a deal. Ask away, wanderer." He says.  
"Where did my dad go?" I ask.  
"Rivet City. It's a big boat south on the river. It's directly across from the Jefferson Memorial. He was saying something about a doctor and a purifier. He even asked about a G.E.C.K. whatever the hell that is." He explains.  
"Do anything else? Like whom the doctor was and what he was trying to do?" I ask. He shakes his head.  
"No. The Doctor is in Rivet City though." He says.  
"Thank you. I have to go." I say.  
I leave and travel on ward fast. I travel on the other side of the river, to avoid the super mutants in D.C...  
After hours of limping, I find Arlington library. And across the river I see the big boat. I give a sigh of relief. I run to the river and dive in. My Pip-Boy warns about the radiation that I am taking but I am so close that I don't care.  
I get to the other side and climb up the side of the concrete wall that led to the stairwell to the entrance of the ship. I get out and don't even dry myself off.  
I run up the stairs. This is it, I think. Dad could be here. My heart starts to race with excitement. Then I reach the ledge. I need a bridge to cross. I look around, frantic.  
Then I see an intercom. I press the button.  
"Hello?" I call.  
"Welcome to Rivet City the bridge will be out in a moment." The intercom says. A bridge is soon clicked into the ledge. I run across.  
There is a guard at the entrance and he looks at me suspiciously.  
"Don't try anything stupid." He glares. I look back him silent. I walk into what looks like a market. Different tents and booths are set up. I walk down the stairs. I look for dad. I closely analyze every detail I could. I am so focus to where I almost don't notice when I walk into a boy.  
"Hey! Watch it lady!" He yells at me. I walk by without saying anything. He grabs my arm.  
"Hey you got a problem?" He asks. When I look at him, I notice something strange. This kid didn't only have the attitude, but the same looks as Butch when he was younger.  
"Sorry." I say. "What's your name kid?" I ask. He laughs at me.  
"James. What's it to you?" He asks.  
"Sorry, James." I say and I continue to walk. I hear James call for me but I ignore. I see a bar with a man behind it sweeping. I stroll over to him.  
"Hey can you tell me where I could find a doctor?" I ask. He looks up at me.  
"Depends on what kind of Doctor you are looking for. There are science doctors and medical doctors." He says.  
"Where can I find both?" I ask.  
"Well the medical doctor is on the upper deck and you can find the science lab down the stairs from the clinic." He says. I nod.  
"Where is the upper deck?" I ask. He looks at me suspiciously and crosses his arms.  
"You haven't been here before have you? You look familiar." He says.  
"What? No. I have never been her before in my life." I say.  
"Well, has your mother?" he asks. I shake my head.  
"No, well I don't know; look where the upper deck is?" I ask. He points up the stairwell.  
"There's a stairwell behind that door they have signs for directions. Good luck finding whatever doctor you are trying to find, Miss…?" he trails off waiting me to finish.  
"Daenerys, but call me Danny." I say. He nods.  
"Good luck Danny." He says. I give a quick smile before saying thank you and climbing up the stairs. My legs are starting to feel sore. In the Vault there was never enough space to walk this much in a day. Sure there were sports but that is about it.  
I walk up one more flight of stairs before entering the upper deck. I follow the signs and finally reach the clinic. I look inside to find a man with grey hair.  
"Doc?" I call. He turns around and crosses his arms.  
"Yes? What can I do for you?" I ask.  
"Is James here?" I ask.  
"The kid? No he isn't." he says. I shake my head.  
"No a middle aged guy. Wearing a blue jumpsuit?" I ask. He shakes his head.  
"No but I did see a guy like that go into the science lab. He might still be there or left early this morning." He answers. My heart leaps. I smile.  
"Thank you." I say breathlessly. I run and open the door. I look down over the railing. I don't see him. I run down the stairs.  
A woman who sees me being careless and loud walks over to me looking very angry.  
"What are you doing? Get out of here! You are sabotaging our…" she stops. Her mouth is open as if I dazed her.  
"What? Are you…" I start.  
"It's you. I can't believe it. You look just like him. And you are a striking resemblance to her. But what…how…?" she shudders.  
"What? Dad? Where is he? How do you know him?" I ask. She is speechless. I shake her.  
"Where is he?!" I yell.  
"I don't know. He went to the purifier. But he might not be there anymore." She says avoiding eye contact like she is trying to figure something out.  
"How do you know him?" I ask.  
"He didn't tell you?" she questions. When I don't reply she chuckles and frowns.  
"Not surprising." She says bitterly.  
"How do you know my father? Why did he come to you?" I ask  
"We worked together years ago. I also worked with your mother and when she… she died he left the project. I haven't seen him for twenty years until last night." She explains.  
"Why did he come? What was this project?" I ask.  
"He really didn't tell you anything, did you?" she said. I roll my eyes and shake my head. She is taking too long.  
"He wanted to start the project. He said he knew how to make the purifier work. He kept talking about the Vault Tech G.E.C.K. and how it will work and a scientist knew where it was. The project is Project Purity. It was to purify water and give out to people in the waste. So that everyone could have fresh clean water that is safe to drink. That it would make it so we didn't have drink irradiated water." She explained. I give a little gasp.  
"To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life." I whisper to myself.  
"My mother was on this project too?" I ask. She nods.  
"She was a big part of it. I think she was the most driven out of all of us. James was too, very driven." She said.  
"Where is the purifier?" I ask.  
"The Jefferson Memorial. And Daenerys," she says. _She knows my name._ It was surprising. I didn't even know hers.  
"He doesn't know you are out of the Vault. He won't be happy to find you out of it." She warns. I nod.  
"I know, and I am not happy that he is out of it." I say. I leave. There a few things that I have learned today.  
I wasn't born in a Vault. My father wasn't born in a Vault. My mother wasn't born in a Vault. My father left me to save people of the wasteland and to complete my mother's dream. What else has he been lying about?


	10. Chapter 11

11

After mascaraing the super mutants that guarded the inside and outside of the memorial, I search around the rotunda.  
"James!" I yell. I didn't want him to know it was me calling him just yet. There is no answer. I sigh and glance down. Something catches my eye.  
I look on one of the monitors; piles of holotape are on the monitor. I quickly grab them making some fall on the floor. I download all of them before I listen to one. I play the first one labeled Project Purity Personal Journal Zero. I hear my dad speak in the tape.  
"Well, here we are again. Project Purity and me. It's been close to twenty years since my last entry. Since I left all of this behind to make a life for my daughter. We spent all that time in Vault 101, tucked away from the rest of the world. It wasn't perfect, but it was safe, and that's all I could have hoped for. Now, my daughter is a grown woman. Beautiful, intelligent, confident. Just like her mother. And as hard as it was to admit it, she doesn't need her daddy anymore." The tape ends.  
I stop myself from crying by putting my head on my knees. _But I do, dad, I will always need you. I will always want you to be with me. You are all I have. All I have left._  
I play the next one.  
"So here I am, back where it all began. Project Purity. God, we wanted to change the world. We really thought the waters of life could be a reality. And that's why this is a momentous occasion. Because even after nineteen years, I still believe it. Project Purity can and will be operational. This is just the beginning."  
I bite my lip and crack open a Nuka Cola. I drink as I play the next one.  
"This is day 2 of my attempt to resurrect this project. I've got one of the portable fusion generators up and running, but it's just enough to power the emergency lighting and a couple of other systems. It will serve for now, but I need help powering up the mainframe. I have to visit Madison in Rivet City."  
I click the next one.  
"I spoke with Doctor Li, Madison, at Rivet City. It went about as well as I expected. That is to say she thinks I'm completely mad. How can I blame her? She's got her own life, her own team, and is making real tangible scientific progress. Here I come again, the very paragon of failure and false promises. But the reality is, I need Madison and whatever scientific team she may have assembled. I can't do this myself. Project Purity is bigger than me, it always was. And without Catherine... God, I can't let this die. Not again, not like this."  
I sigh. Dad isn't only doing this for himself. In fact I don't think he is doing it at all for himself. He is doing for mom and her memory, to make her life's work mean something. To give her the thing she wanted the most. When I find I will help him do just that. I want to do this for mom. I want my mom to be proud. I play the next tape.  
"Even in Vault 101, my work on Project Purity never really stopped. Soon after we arrived, my nightly routine included sneaking into the restricted areas. Searching for, I don't know, whatever I could find. It was a Vault-Tec facility after all. The place was built with some of the most advanced technology this country had ever developed. Those excursions never turned up anything particularly useful. So one night, after half a bottle of scotch, I broke into the Overseer's office. It was easy enough to hack his console, gain access to the restricted files. Most of it was garbage: propaganda, spy reports, just plain rambling bullshit, really. But there was one thing, one name that stood out amongst all the others... Dr. Stanislaus Braun. I knew of Braun's work, of course. He was a celebrity in his day. Vault-Tec's sorcerer-scientist, leaving his peers in awe of his technological wizardry. But it was in Vault 101 that night in the Overseer's office, that I first learned of Braun's involvement in Vault-Tec's social preservation program, and his work on something called GECK, Garden of Eden Creation Kit."  
I giggle when he said 'bullshit'. Dad never cursed around me and I never did around him. it was weird hearing a different side to him. I just wonder what side did I see of him?  
I play the next tape.  
"To be honest, the GECK sounded like pure fantasy, even for someone of Braun's capabilities. It was nothing short of a miracle. A terra-forming module, capable of producing life from complete lifelessness. But not only was this thing a reality, it was actually distributed to several vaults to be used after an atomic war. Vault 101 was, sadly, not on that list. I did some digging and discovered Braun's name on the reservation list for a Vault 112. I'm no slouch, but this man, he could have easily succeeded where I failed. Does his collected knowledge remain within the halls of Vault 112? Journals, holotapes, computer records, maybe even experiments? If I could gain access to just a fraction of Braun's genius, Project Purity would become a reality."  
My leg was nervously shaking. _Come on dad tell me where you are. Let me know for sure that it is Vault 112 that you are going.  
_I play the next and last tape.  
"I'm off to Vault 112 to search for anything of Braun's that might help me get this purifier up and running. All I know is that it's West of some place called "Evergreen Mills," and it's well hidden in some sort of garage. But I'll find it, I have to. It's so close, but that's the story of Project Purity, isn't it? An eternity of "almost there's". Let's see if Braun has the missing puzzle piece."  
_It is! Thanks you dad! Vault 112 here I come._ I get quickly and run out of the Jefferson Memorial. All I needed now was to find where Evergreen Mills is. Or even better where Vault 112 is.


	11. Chapter 12

12

I run back to Rivet City and ask the guard about Evergreen Mills.  
"Bunch of raiders. Don't want to go there, kid." He warns. I nod.  
"I'm not, there's a location just west of it that I want to go. Some sort of garage." I say. He shakes his head.  
"Sorry kid, don't know about a garage but I will show you on your map where Evergreen Mills is." He says. "Just steer clear of there if you know what's good for you." He says. I nod. After he shows me I head in the direction of Megaton. But I won't be going to Megaton, because my location is farther south.

It's been a day now and hasn't found the garage. He could be gone onto the next thing now. I did see Evergreen Mills but I did follow the man's advice not go there. I rub my eyes and kick the dirt in frustration.  
"You alright?"  
I jump with my .357 locked and loaded. The man raises his hands up. He is unarmed and had a guard behind him aiming at me. There is also a Brahmin behind with a pack. I point down my weapon. I remember this man. Crazy Wolfgang.  
"Sorry, you startled me." I say.  
"What's wrong?" he asks.  
"Yeah, I can't find uh a garage." I say.  
His eyes brighten. Smiling he walks closer to me.  
"You mean Smith Casey Garage? I know where it is. I could uh, show ya." He offers. I look at him suspiciously.  
"Is that garage around here?" I ask. I cross my arms. He nods attentively.  
"Yeah, it is." He says.  
"What do you want?" I say while raising a brow. He laughs. And looks down with a huge grin on his face.  
"Man, you are sure different than what I remember you being." he says. I groan and roll my eyes.  
"Look Wolfgang, I'm not… fucking you for information. I'm certainly not a whore. So fuck off, I will find it myself." I say. I am about to turn and leave but he grabs my arm. He chuckles and looks down.  
"I don't want you… to fuck me. I mean I would like too but I know it would be… better if you wanted to it. And it would be the best if you initiated it. There aren't pretty woman like you in the wasteland, it gets lonely at night. All I want is a chance to… maybe get us to the stage where we want to I uh guess. I wasn't going to word it like that, I was going to word it as in uh…" he babbles. I roll my eyes.  
"Like a date? A you fucking kidding me?" I ask. He looks at me gives me a shy smile. I groan.  
"You don't even know my name." I say. He smiles. "Daenerys." I introduced.  
"The date won't be for a while." I say.  
"Hey as long as I get it. And if I don't then at least I help a pretty lady out." I feel my face go pale. This man is completely ridiculous, but stupidly charming. I look down nervously.  
"Ok. Where is the garage?" I ask. I show him my Pip-Boy. He looks at the map.  
"Well you have been drifting away from it. It might take a while to get there. Maybe a day." He says. I groan.  
"Fuck." I say. He smiles and nods.  
"Yeah, I could take you there." He says. I look at him with a 'fuck no' face. He just chuckles.  
"It could be the date." He says. He still hasn't let go of my arm.  
"Fine. Let's go." I say. He nods and turns to his guard.  
"Meet me at Megaton. I'll be there in a few days and uh get me my gun." He says to the guard. The guard hands him a .44, one that I admire.  
"Lead the way." I say. He walks in front of me. We have about five hours of daylight left. I can't believe I agreed to do this with him.  
It was about an hour before either of this said anything. He was the one that broke the silence. Not a surprise.  
"So… you are very talkative." He says. I don't laugh at his sarcastic remark.  
"Not really. I don't do stuff like this often. I don't think I have been on whatever this is." I say. He looks at me.  
"You've never been with a man?" he asks. I look at him surprised he would even go there.  
"I don't think that's any of your business." I say chuckling. He laughs.  
"So you haven't been with a man." He says. I stop walking.  
"I have. And from what I remember it didn't end well." I say offended. He looks at more intrigued than I wanted him to be.  
"Want to tell me about it?" he asks. I look at him angry.  
"No, I didn't even tell my best friend about it." I say.  
"Well you don't have to worry about telling a stranger, because I won't judge you, your friend might. You might feel better." He says. I roll my eyes.  
"Fine. Just so you'll shut the fuck up." I say. He smiles and nods for me to continue. I haven't really thought about Freddie Gomez… or that night in a long time. But every time I saw him, I thought of his face. The face of determination, the face of lust that he had before he went down on me. And when I saw Butch, I thought of the face when he yelled at me. I remember not only anger but of defeat and pain.  
Now when I think about Butch, ever since of the night I escaped, I think of the face when his mother was about to die. When he clenched his jaw and showed his muscles in his face, I saw the same pain as I did on the night me and Freddie had sex.  
"I was seventeen, and my friend was having her birthday. This guy that I had a crush on since… the beginning of time. He wanted to show me what he got for Amata. When went to his room he showed me what he got her and… we kissed." I say. We have already started walking again. He listens attentively not interrupting. It's nice to get this story out because I feel I might be able to forget about it completely.  
"Then, well… we started." I say chuckling at the memories. I remember how my back arched, how his fingers touched my skin, how it felt electric. I bite my lip nervously. How he kissed me.  
Then Butch's face appears in my mind, that pain, it was the same pain I saw myself have in the mirror. Could… no impossible never in a million years would that ever happen…could it? It couldn't. No I won't believe it. It was because I slept with his best friend. But what if? What if it was true? What if Butch did have a thing for… me? That's why he was hurt and did Freddie know?  
"And then?" Wolfgang eagers on. I blink.  
"Then when we finished, and his best friend walks in. he lost it. His best friend is…was my enemy. We hate…hated each other. He was upset. Yelled at me and him and Freddie got into a fight. I threw up. I felt sick." I say. I bite my lip.  
"Wow." He says. "It's a dick move to yell at someone in a situation when it isn't your complete fault. " He says.  
"I ran to my dad. I didn't tell him but I had a feeling that he knew. Butch always called me a daddy's girl. That I worshipped him." I say. He shakes his head.  
"I did…do" I say. "He's all I ever had."  
"We better set up a camp soon." Says Wolfgang. I nod.  
We find a group of rocks and set up camp in a little alley to hide in from predators, but one of us will stay up. I will probably be the one. Like I could sleep after the things I discovered.  
I sit up and look at the sun setting. Wolfgang sits next to me. He sets up a bed. I look at him with a raised brow.  
"I'm not thinking of… well I am but you know not pressuring." He says. I sit up against a rock.  
"So how about you what's your deepest secrets your embarrassing moments." I say. He chuckles.  
"Well my mother was enslaved and my father was killed by raiders. I was picked up from a caravan and worked until I got older, enough caps, and got my own caravan. And well here we are." He says.  
"What about your first time. Was it as bad as mine?" I ask. He laughs and shakes his head.  
"No, I didn't throw up or got in a fight." He says. I nod.  
"I was with the caravan in Rivet City. And there was this girl, I don't know if she is still there but her name is Sydney. We got drunk and we did some stuff in a storage room." He says. I chuckle.  
"Sounds a lot better than mine." I say. He brings out bottle of vodka. He takes a gulp. He offers me some. I raise my brow to it. I have never taken sip of alcohol in my life. But I take it and gulp some down. It burned as it went down my throat. It was disgusting but the sensation was incredible.  
I look up at the sky I could see the dark blue slowly taking up the whole sky. The stars are covered in a thick fog. Some still shine out. I took another drink and hand it back to him.  
I still couldn't get the first time out of my mind. That electric feeling I had. How I couldn't control the arch in my back. I want it again. But not like this… I want it with someone else. Someone I can't even phantom thinking about doing that. I want… him. I want… no. this is a ridiculous thought. It won't even pass my mind tomorrow.  
I look over at Wolfgang. He drinks from the vodka bottle. He is looking up at the sky. It is starting to get cold.  
"I'll take first watch." I tell him. He looks at me and smiles.  
"I'll keep you company." He says. I smile. _Yeah so you have a better chance of fucking me._ But in the current mood I am in, I might consider it. I must have become insane because I'm not second guessing myself. I sit next to him and take another drink of vodka. He smiles at me.  
"You totally planned this whole thing out." I say. He takes the bottle and chugs down a quarter of it.  
"It just comes naturally." He says. I look out at the sky.  
"Did the thought of fucking me come to you today or when you killed that radscorpion?" I asked.  
"When you first stood up and brushed yourself off. Turned me on how you looked. How much you were bothered being saved like that." He says.  
I raise a brow. I don't think I was bothered by it. I think I was bothered about being almost killed when I just got out of the Vault.  
"What's your real name?" I asked looking up at the stars. He chuckles as he puts down his bottle.  
"What Crazy Wolfgang doesn't sound like a real name to you?" He scoffs. I smile and look down at the dirt.  
"I'm serious." I say. He sighs.  
"Wolfgang is my real name. My mom use to tell me stories about these people who were called Indians and others called cowboys who use to live in America long before the Great War. And a man named Wolfgang amongst the Indianans was they're hero." He says.  
"Yeah my dad found my name before I was born in one of his dad's old books." I say. I start to feel numb. I take another drink.  
"I like your name." he says.  
"Really? It's not anything like Wolfgang that's for sure." I laugh. He smiles. That's when he pulls me in and I let him. When our lips meet there is excitement but it's nothing like I felt with Freddie. This was more fascination and lust than anything. He lets me take the lead. As he said before he wants me wanting everything. And I do. I feel what I felt that night with Freddie. That bad in me. I rip of his jacket to find a white undershirt. I kiss him; have my lips run lightly down his jawline and down his neck. I can hear breathe heavily. I take off his shirt. I kiss his chest. My fingers lightly run up and down his sides. I could feel his middle get harder that's when we lost it. He rolls over putting me underneath him.  
I grab his hair bite his neck. He moans. He takes off my vest and tank top. He kisses my breast as he removes my bra. I give a slight moan. He takes off my pants but I whimper in pain because of my leg.  
"What?" he says worried. I put my tank top on.  
"A bullet skid my leg a few days ago. It's healing. I should check it." I say. He nods but I can tell he is a little disappointed. He helps me take off my pants carefully. I undo the tie. It isn't infected the stimpacks helped. But it is swollen. It should be cleaned.  
"Look I know it sounds crazy, but we do it in the caravan all the time. We use well vodka to clean wounds." He says. I look at him as if she was crazy but I nod for him to proceed. I try to stay quiet but I give a loud groan when he pours it. I it from him and take a drink and hand it back to him. I tie it back up.  
"I have some jet that can take the pain away." He says. I sigh and nod for some. He gives me an inhaler. I suck in the drug. Letting a breath out, I look at him. Wolfgang did have a nice body, tanned muscular. But if you weren't strong you were dead in the wasteland.  
"So…" he says, itching the back of his neck. I laugh.  
"Think you can get me in the mood again?" I ask. He smiles and chuckles.  
"I don't know I had you there." He says. I nod.  
"Yeah. You give up? Already? Come on you were so close!" I tease. He nods. He shifts closer. He is on his knees by my legs. I lay down as he climbs up my body. We kiss. He removes my tank top once again. I unbutton his jeans. I am breathless. We look at each other. I yank off his pants. His underwear is exposed. But when I thought he was going to rip of my panties and fuck me, he rips them off and spread my legs.  
The memory of Freddie invades my mind. Wolfgang kisses from my belly down to my middle. Without really thinking about it, I compared who was better at eating me out.  
The feeling and the way it happened was better with Freddie but I had to say Wolfgang knew his stuff. May I say he was hungry like the wolf?


	12. Chapter 13

13

I wake up wearing nothing but Wolfgang's jacket. I rub my head from the throbbing headache. Wolfgang has his shirt and pants on. I don't think he notices me awake.  
I grab my bra and tank top. I put them on. Pulling my pants on, he watches me smiling.  
"What?" I scoff. He shakes his head.  
"I just had a good time last night." He says. I laugh.  
"I'm sure you did. You looked… pleased." I say looking down blushing.  
"I wasn't the only one." He retorts. I look up and try not to smile. I sigh.  
"So when are we leaving to go to the garage?" I ask. He frowns and looks down at the ground.  
"Whenever you want." He says. I look at him.  
"What?" I say. He looks at me and smiles and shakes his head.  
"Nothing. So when do we leave?" he asks. I look up at him with pleading eyes when he stands up. He looks down at still questioning. I break eye contact by narrowing my eyes.  
"Yeah lets go." I say. I get up and pack a few things and Wolfgang does the same. Before we left I grabbed him and kissed him. When we part we stay close for a second. But after the second we leave and start our way to the garage my heart is pumping intensively.

About an hour passed and I could see the little garage. I get excited. He most likely isn't there anymore but I have to go. I have to check. Wolfgang pulls me into a kiss and wishes me luck to find whatever I am looking for.  
When I approached the abandoned garage, I yell dad's name. I have my .375 magnum ready. I run into the garage. I don't see anything. I go into the other room and am attacked by a mole rat. I shoot it and it rolls off of me. I get up and look around for a switch.  
I find one on a wall that is by where the floor is a different color. I pull the switch. Almost immediately the floor opens revealing a stairwell. I run down.  
"James!" I yell. No answer. I go down deeper and see a Vault door. But not the entrance. It was a door that could be found in the vault. I enter it with no problem. I look around and am startled to see a working robot.  
"Welcome to Vault 112. You have arrived 202.3 years late. Please put on your Vault 112 jumpsuit." It says. I slide on the jumpsuit over my clothes. I put my hair in a high ponytail.  
"Please proceed to the main hall." The robot says. When I get to the main hall I see some sort of pods in a circle. In the middle of the circle are computers, one for each pod. I run down. I look through the pods. All the people I see are old and their skin are brittle and falling apart.  
I come across one that did however held a younger looking person. When I got closer I realized it was dad. Dad is here. I knock on the glass.  
"Dad!" I say. He doesn't move. I knock on the glass once more. I start banging.  
"Dad! Please! Look at me!" I yell.  
"Please get into your simulation pod as quickly as possible." A robot says. I look at the robot and then back at my dad. He's in a simulation? He's…trapped? I run to find another empty simulation pod. I find one that's broken and another that is open. I pull off my jumpsuit because it just didn't feel right.  
I climb up into the pod and lay back. I am heavily breathing. Nervously, I was biting my lip. The pod's lid started to close. The wires coming from the computer connects to my head.  
Then a bright light shines in my eyes. I close my eyes and when I open them I am in a completely different place.


	13. Chapter 14

14

When I open my eyes I am in a neighborhood. It was clean, vibrant, and well alive. It wasn't affected by any nuclear fallout. It was as if we went back in time before the war. I look at myself. I am shorter and skinner and younger. I must be ten. I look across the street. I see a little park with swings and flowers and tall trees. I run over there. I run into a dog.  
"Hi doggie." I say patting its head. When I walk away it barks at me. I look back confused, but travel onward. I see a girl my age with blond hair. I move closer. When she looks at me I notice her eyes are dark and cold.  
"Oh look! Another visitor! I'm Betty. We are going to have lots of fun you and me." She says.  
"Have you seen a middle aged guy? He is around 50 or so?" I ask. She smiles. The smile wasn't friendly in some way it was evil.  
"Yes I have. He asked me all these questions. But enough chit-chat let's play a game." She says. My lips tighten.  
"No I don't want to play. I want to find my dad." I say. I feel a nudge at my leg. It's the dog. I bite my lip.  
"Oh this makes it all so much more interesting! The fellow was your dad? What an unexpected twist!" Betty booms. I clench my jaw.  
"I need to find him. I need to…" I trail off and sigh. I cross my arms. "Can you tell me where he is?" I ask.  
"Oh I'm sure he's howling around here somewhere. So sorry I cannot tell you where he is. No. You have to play the game first." Betty says. I look at him suspiciously, 'howling around'? What the fuck does he mean by that?  
"What are we going to play? Duck, duck, goose?" I sarcastically ask. She crosses her arms and gives me that evil smile.  
"No, silly. Something more entertaining than that. I want you to make Timmy Neusbaum cry." She says.  
"What? That's it? You want me to make him cry?" I ask. She nods.  
"Indeed. I hope you get as much out of it as I do." She says slyly. I sigh.  
"Fine. But you better tell me where he is." I say.  
"Just don't bark up the wrong tree, Danny." Betty says. I stop and turn. What the fuck.  
"How the hell…" I start.  
"Don't waste time!" she says cheerfully. I walk around looking for Timmy as the dog followed me.  
"What do you want doggie?" I ask. The dog whines. I frown at it. I there has to be something. She is tricking me. But how.  
When I find Timmy he sits on the bench with a lemonade stand. He smiles and waves at me.  
"Hi, I'm Timmy. Wanna play?" he asks. I sigh and slump my shoulders. I have to make this kid cry? But he's sweet. I must be softer than a ghoul's skin because I can't make someone in a simulation cry. But maybe it was because I was the victim when I was a child. Not just by Butch but by the other kids too. The kids that later became the tunnel snakes. That and Susie Mack. She hated me because she liked Freddie too.  
"Timmy, I hear your parents are getting a divorce because of you." I say. He looks at me.  
"No they are not. Why would they do that?" He says. He already looks on the verge of tears. Making this kid cry was very easy but I didn't feel right doing it.  
"Yeah they say you are an awful kid and that neither of your parents wants you so they are going to put you up for an adoption." I lie. He starts to ball.  
I bit my lip. The dog barks at me. I look at it angrily because of what I did. I felt horrible of what I had to say to Timmy because I knew how he felt. Because my dad left me and didn't come back.  
"What?!" I yell. The dog whines and I notice something. The dog's eyes are strikingly familiar. I gasp.  
"Dad?" I say. The dog barks happily. I give him a wide smile and hug the dog. I don't let go.  
"You have no idea what I did to find you." I whisper. "I just… I just wish you could have brought me along."  
The dog whines. I try not to cry, so I walk to Betty.  
"Great job on making the Neusbaum boy cry." Betty says. I look away disappointed.  
"Now we can set the charades aside." A voice is of an older man with a weird accent comes out of Betty's mouth. My eyes go wide and I look at dad. He just whines.  
"What the…" I say.  
"Look, you get one question and you get one answer. It looks like you already know who your father is." The man says while nodding his head to dad. I look at dad.  
I wish I could talk to him. There are so many questions to ask. And I am afraid there are more questions than answers.  
"Who are you?" I ask. He nods.  
"Good question. I am Doctor Braun. Overseer of Vault 112. I hope you are enjoying your stay." He says.  
"How do we get out of here?" I ask. Betty shakes her head.  
"No more questions. We are going to play another game. A game that is more fun than the first." Betty's voice comes back out.  
I shake my head. "No, no more games." I say. She laughs.  
"Fine. No more answers. When you change your mind come talk to Me." she orders. I sigh. While I walked around the odd neighborhood, I talk to dad.  
"There has to be another way out of here. A glitch. Dr. Braun has to have a backup in case his games get boring." I say. Dad whines and I pat his head. "It's going to be okay, dad I am going to get you out of here." I say. Out of nowhere an elderly woman runs to me.  
"Oh no. you too. You are trapped. You have to end this. You have to find the failsafe." She says.  
"Finally! Someone who is as sane as I am!" I say. She doesn't even look relieved.  
"We aren't really here. We aren't really talking. This isn't real! You have to put an end to this! You have to trigger the failsafe." She says.  
"Where is the failsafe?" I ask. She runs her fingers through her hair and looks around worriedly.  
"It's in the abandon house don't stop looking for it. It's there. I know it is!" she says. I nod.  
"Okay. Okay. I will find it. I promise." I say. She nods and walks away quickly nervously whispering to herself. I sigh and look for the abandoned house.


	14. Chapter 15

15

I find the abandon house quite easily. It was the only house without any gnomes and the lawn wasn't mowed.  
We enter the house I look around but didn't find any computer. It was just a dirty house. It had to be here.  
In the entry way some random stuff were stacked around. I look at them but give as almost as soon as I started. I try to pick up a Nuka Cola but instead it _dings_ at me. It was like a glitch, because when I touched it, it felt like I was shocked by electricity. I touch the glass pitcher. It has a higher ding. I touch random object in the room to find all the glitches.

"They have to be in some sort of order." I whisper to myself. I try different orders and there is no luck. After about thirty minutes I almost give up for a while but I try one more time. _Radio, Pitcher, Gnome, Pitcher, Cinderblock, Gnome, Empty Bottle._  
Then a computer appears. I smile and practically skip to the terminal. I hack into it easily enough. Then I see _Failsafe: Chinese invasion_.  
I click on it; it says I have to read the warnings before proceeding. I read the warnings and then click again. Then I feel a rumble on the ground. _We are going to get out of here. _  
We run out of the house to see the neighborhood is swarmed with Chinese soldiers. They kill everyone on sight. But this is the way to end it. This is the way so I can be in control. I run to Betty. She is mad. Her dark eyes are completely firing with fury.  
"What did you do?! Do you realize what you have done?!" He yells. I smile at him; I know I am in control.  
"This has to end, Braun." I say. Betty is shaking in anger.  
"How do I leave?" I ask. He sighs and points to the right.  
"Walk through the door. And it will end the simulation. But I will be here, forever." He says. "And I will have no one to play with!" Betty's voice comes out of the body. I look over to my right and see a random door. I open it and then a bright light blinds my eyes.

I open my eyes to see my simulation pod opening. I gasp. Coming out of the simulation I felt out of breath. I cough. Jumping out of the pod, my legs felt shaky.  
"Dad?" my voice cracks. I cough again. I hear someone walking towards me. I spin around almost losing my balance. He was there. Dad standing in front of my. I almost cry when he gives a weak smile.


	15. Chapter 16

16

I run and throw my arms around dad. I could feel my heart pumping so hard that I was afraid that it would break through my chest.  
"Oh my god… I can't believe. Oh my god." I say blinking away the tears. I let a few tears pass.  
He hugs back. I hug tighter and tighter. I couldn't believe that he was actually here.  
"I am glad you are here, but what are you doing here?" He asks. I pull away from him. I don't know what to say. I just saved him from being in a simulation forever and he asks what I am doing here.  
"I had to follow you. There were things that I couldn't let go." I say. He sighs and puts his hands on his hips.  
"I left you there so you would be safe. It isn't out here." He says. I bite my lip nervously.  
"You abandoned me." I whisper. "I will always need you, you are all I have and when you left especially without telling me I couldn't let it go. I lost mom and I couldn't lose my dad too." I say.  
"I just wanted you to be safe. You didn't need me anymore. You are an adult and you are grown up. I knew you would be fine. The wasteland needs me to do this." He says.  
"The wasteland or mom?" I say. He sighs and I know I've hit a sensitive spot. I soften. "I know it was her dream. And I wish you let me help you complete her dream." I say. I look down and fumble with my hands letting the tears run down my cheek. "I think she would have wanted this. I want to make her proud and I couldn't do that locked up in a vault for the rest of my life." I say. When he sees my tears he almost breaks down.  
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I thought that you being safe would be the best for you. I want you to be safe and have a long life. That's all I ever wanted." He says. I look down and nod. He pulls me into a hug.  
"She is already proud of you. She was proud of you since the day you were born. I love you and the wasteland is not a place for anyone to live. Especially at your age." He says. "I didn't abandon you." He says.  
"Then why do I feel deserted? And even if I did stay I wouldn't be safe. The overseer went insane. He killed Jonas. He almost hurt Amata to find where I was. The guards were going to kill me. Dad I killed someone. I killed Officer Mack; I thought he was going to kill Amata." I say. He looks at me worried of what I have become. Honestly, I am worried of me what I have become.  
"I know we weren't born in the Vault. I know that we somehow got into the Vault but, I want to know how mom really died. What really happened to her?" I say.  
"I didn't lie about how she died. She… she died from complications of childbirth. She… she was so eager to meet you. She really wanted to see what kind of person you were going to be. I know she would have been so proud of you. I am proud of you." He says. I smile. The pain in my leg starts to fire up my leg, I need to walk or sit down. I grimace and look at my leg.  
"What's wrong?" he asks. I shake my head.  
"Nothing, just… a bullet skid my leg a few days ago." I say. I sit on a stair. His eyes widen.  
"You were shot?" He says. I look at him. I laugh.  
"Yeah but I killed the bastard don't worry. I was lucky it was a super mutant." I say. It takes me a moment to realize I cussed in front of dad. Then I blush.  
"Let me see it." He says. I could tell he was very concerned, probably the most concern I have ever seen him. Taking off my vest and pants. I moan when I the pants rolled off the wound. It was swelling and I could feel a heartbeat in the wound.  
I untie the strip. The strip was stuck to the wound from the blood. I moaned. I took out a few stimpacks. He takes a deep breath.  
"It's okay. If we give you a stimpacks you can make it to Rivet City. But there I am going to have to get you antibiotics and let's hope that is all." He says. I sigh and nod. Handing him a stimpack, I shake I know he is going to inject into the wound which it is not what I have been doing. You only do that in extreme cases.  
When he put the needle in the wound, I yelp.  
"Shhh, it's okay, it's going to be all over soon." He says. I wince. He holds my hand. I breathe heavily. I moan. Then he pulls it out. I cry out.  
He rips a strip off of his jumpsuit. He ties the strip around my leg pretty tightly.  
As I put my pants and vest on, dad wipes his hands off on his jumpsuit. He helps me up.  
"Ready to go to Rivet City?" he asks. I smile and nod.  
"Let's do it." I say. He smiles.  
"That's my girl." He says. We leave the Vault and embrace the sun outside in the wasteland.


	16. Chapter 17

17  
We arrive at Rivet City just in time. I could feel my face get cold and pale. Dad takes me straight to the clinic. I lay down on a bed. I put my forearm over my head. Dad takes off my pants and looks at the wounds.  
The Doc sighs and shakes his head.  
"She could have blood poisoning." He says. I look up surprised.  
"What?!" I yell. My dad looks at me very concerned. Blood poisoning that would have to come from an infection. But I don't remember being infected.  
"It was never infected! I cleaned it! It swelled but… I" I start. Dad lays me back down.  
"I think it was complications with the simulation. But you are in good hands." He says. I pant.  
"But… I don't feel good." I say. I feel like I was about to pass out. I hold on to dad's arm. I start to panic and my heart races.  
My dad injects an I.V in me and I hear a beeping sound when he attaches something to my chest and then I pass out.

I can vaguely remember glimpses of a pressure on my chest. I see dad pushing on my chest.  
"I'm not going to lose you. I'm not going to lose you like your mother." I hear him say. His voice echoes in my mind and everything is bright. Then I feel a pounding on my chest. Then I hear a steady beep and then I black out.

I wake up in a daze. I am in the doctor's office with tubes hooked up to me. I panic. I pull all of the tubes out and yelp when I do. Then the Rivet City's doctor runs over to me to stop me pulling out the and tubes.  
"No! It hurts! Take them out!" I scream. He tries to calm me down but it makes me more frantic.  
"No!" I yell. I look around for dad. Then I see the doctor pull out a syringe and try to hold me down.  
"No! Dad! Dad!" I yell. I hear someone running in the hall. "Dad!"  
"Danny!" I hear my dad yell. Then the doctor injects the fluid that was in the syringe into me. I am paralyzed. Not one bone would move in my body. All that would move was my chest, breathing heavily. I see my dad run into the room he looked at me astounded.  
"What did you do?!" he asks the doctor.  
"She was pulling out her tubes and she wouldn't calm down. I gave her a sensitive she is okay." He defends. My dad points at him threating.  
"When she is awake you can take the tubes out!" he yells. "When the medicine wears off I will be the one to treat her. You stay the hell away."  
I breathe in little gasps wishing I could take. Dad turns to me and takes my hand. We look at each other, and I am still panting.  
_What happened to me? Did they treat my leg? What happened?_ My eyelids start to fall over my eyes but I fight to keep them open. Dad brushes my cheek with his hand and smiles.  
"Go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." He says. I let my eyes close and I fall into a deep sleep.


	17. Chapter 18 Closure of Part One

18  
I feel myself drift more and more awake. The silent distance bangs on the metal walls that surround this ship set my nerves at ease. Or could it be the drugs the Doc gave me? At the moment I didn't give shit. All that really had my attention was the comfortable bed underneath me, the sound of metal walls and generators made me feel as if I was at home. And home… home was safe. I turn on my side curling up in a ball and burying my face in a blanket that laid on me. I wasn't ready to awake and realize I wasn't home. But I have dad. With him I am home, and at home I am safe.  
Slowly I open my weary eyes and see the metal wall that faced me. I stare at it for a while before getting up. As I moved to sit up, I felt all my bones and muscles screaming at me. My head felt fuzzy and my vision was dizzy. All in all I felt sluggish. I see dad on the other side of the room. He is sleeping with papers and clipboards scatter around his lap. Has he been here the whole time? I lie back down and watch him sleep. For the first time since I have found him, I realize how happy I am to have him back with me. In this moment, I feel small. Like I was ten years old again and he fell asleep at his desk. I curl up in a tighter ball. When my dad sleeps I wonder what he dreams. Does he dream of mom? What was he like before he met mom, before Project Purity?  
I sigh and tuck my chin into my chest. Closing my eyes I try fall asleep but I couldn't pass the barrier of being in a daze to real sleep. I wanted to dream. I haven't dreamed in a while. What would I dream about? I snuggle together closer where my knees are piercing into my chest. It hurts but I wanted to stay like this.  
I hear dad clear his throat. He sighs as he shuffles papers around. Then silence. For some reason I feel his eyes on me. I hear him stand up and walk closer to my bed.  
"You can stop faking now." He whispers while chuckling. I couldn't help but grin. I look up at him with sleepy eyes.  
"How long have I been sleeping?" I ask. He stands up straight but still gazes down at me.  
"Not any longer than a day." He says. I sit up and yawn.  
"What happened?" I inquire curiously. I rub my head as it pounds with pain. Dad crosses his arms.  
"You went into cardiac arrest. In your state entering that simulation could have killed you." He states. I look up at him and shrug. He sighs.  
"I… I thought I was going to lose you, but you never stop surprising me." He smiles. I give him a grin.  
"I can't believe I almost died." I admit. He looks down at the ground disappointed. Was he disappointed in me? Or did the ground say something to offend him? As I could tell the medicine hasn't completely worn off.  
"You have to be careful out here, Daenerys. Otherwise you could be killed or enslaved easily and you know I want the safest, longest, happiest life for you." He says.  
"But that's not possible." I say. He sighs and nods in agreement.  
"No harm in trying." He mumbles. My lips tighten. After a long silence I decide to break the cold tension between us.  
"When do we begin Project Purity?" I ask. He looks at me with widened eyes. He quickly shakes his head.  
"No you are too weak, you have to stay here with or without Me." he says. I groan.  
"Dad when are you going to learn you can't get rid of me? I am as dedicated to this as you are. I want to know everything we have made progress on. I want to know, I need to know and I have to help with or without your permission." I declare. He sighs.  
"You can't. I won't let you." He says sternly. I clench my jaw and my fists tighten. I groan frustrated. "I know you feel… connected with your mother when you are a part of it but Danny, I am not going to have Project Purity be the death of you!" He yells angrily.  
"This is why you are doing it, right? You are doing it because you failed to do it after she died. You feel guilty. I just wish you include me in her dreams, include me into what she wanted. I want to make it possible. And you have no authority over me. I am doing this whether or not you allow me too." I say. I lied about him having no authority. Honestly I would do whatever my dad wanted me to do. Anything he wanted in the world I would give it to him but with this situation I was resisting the urge to make him proud of me.  
I stand. As I am about to leave the room I hear him chuckle.  
"You are so stubborn. And your determination is overpowering." He says with a different, softer tone. He is smiling. I, however, am still angry. I don't smile. I frown instead.  
" I wonder where I get it from." I say in a whisper. He knows who I was referring to. I leave the room to clear my mind.

**END OF PART ONE**


End file.
